The First Global Age:Europe, the Americas, and Africa

Conquest in the Americas

First Encounters

• 1492 Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies

• Encountered the Taino people• Lived in villages• Grew corn, yams, and cotton• Friendly and generous toward the Spanish

First Encounters cont.

• Settled on the islands of Hispaniola• Seized the gold ornaments worn by the Tainos,

then made them pan for gold• Forced them to convert Christianity• Natives unknowingly exposed to European

Diseases– Smallpox, measles influenza

The Conquistadors

Hernan Cortes• Landed in Mexico 1519 with 600 men, 16

horses and cannons• Arrange alliances with discontented groupsMoctezuma (Aztec Emperor)• Believed Cortes was the god-king• Sent gifts of gold and silver

Fall of the Aztecs

• In 1521 Cortes captured and destroyed the Aztecs

• Spanish later built Mexico City on the Aztec Capital

Incas

• Francisco Pizarro• Arrived in Peru in 1532• Spanish destroyed the Incas after demanding

treasures

Reason for Spanish Victory

1. Superior military technology2. Division and discontent among the Indians 3. Disease brought by the Europeans weakened

the Aztecs and Incas4. Many Indians believed that the disasters they

suffered marked the world’s end